07/22/05 Senior rodeo

There is nothing that brings out the Western spirit like the rodeo and it was alive and well in Council but some of these cowboys claim to be older than they dirt they often land in. NEAL "We're all tired, sore and some of us a little broke. Some of us have a lot of things to do at home. I'm 54, live in Vale, Oregon, and I'm a steer wrestler on the senior pro tour." Dan Neal is one of the 900 members on the National Senior Rodeo circuit. FRAN "That range from Texas, to California, Montana, Canada a specialty for cowboys that are 40 and over, cowboys and cowgirls. They range really from truck drivers, construction workers all the way up through lawyers. We have doctors, we have school teachers. Dan Fran says it's all in the mind. FRAN "I guess it's the kid in us, the child. We don't want to quit. This rodeo keeps us young." So when is it time to say enough is enough, time for a cowboy to retire? NEAL "As soon as I win that gold buckle. I want a gold buckle right here and then I'm done." Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott